CAPUTO: Lions now getting beaten down

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (90) walks off the field after the Lions lose 35-33 to the Indianapolis Colts in an NFL football game at Ford Field in Detroit, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Lions’ wide receiver Calvin Johnson is the best non-quarterback in the NFL. He will likely set the league’s single-season record for receiving yardage this season, surpassing Jerry Rice, who was the NFL’s most dominant player ever at any specific position.

There is only a slightly less than a 50-50 chance Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford will become the first passer in NFL history to throw for more than 5,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. He is jut 24 years old.

Count me among those who had been wondering out loud lately if defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is the most overrated and over-hyped player in the NFL. It wasn’t true Sunday. Suh played extraordinarily well at Ford Field vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

Advertisement

He had four tackles for loss, a sack and hit the quarterback six times. It was genuine production, not just a myth procured from a rookie season Suh has had trouble matching. Johnson caught 13 passes for 171 yards. Stafford threw for 313 yards. It should have a terrific day for the Lions

Yet, the Lions lost, 35-33, to the Indianapolis Colts.

It came down to one play. Andrew Luck, the Colts’ shockingly effective rookie QB, stepped away from the rush and tossed a 14-yard TD pass to receiver Donnie Avery on the final play of the game.

Avery was so wide open, Luck hit him with the short pass and then escorted him into the end zone. It looked like he was willing to throw a block for Avery — except no Lions’ defender even came close.

But it wasn’t just the one play. The Lions lost because of a litany of mistakes that negated other parts of the game in which they performed well.

They didn’t lose just because they settled for field goals rather scoring touchdowns earlier in the game when they were outplaying the Colts by a wide margin (the Colts scored touchdowns every time they reached the scoring zone). The Lions weren’t defeated just because defensive tackle Nick Fairley was flagged for a horse collar penalty on the Colts’ second-to-last scoring drive.

Up by two scores, the Lions allowed a 42-yard touchdown pass from Luck to LaVon Brazil, a rookie sixth-round draft pick. It was his first NFL TD. That play alone isn’t why the Lions lost. It was all of the above.

It’s like other teams are interchangeable parts in a series of nightmares aired for your displeasure.

The Lions have not been blown out in these games. No solace in that.

Some would say a losing culture has returned to the Lions. It’s difficult to argue when a team, that could easily be 8-4, is 4-8 and recently had to send home a talented, second-round draft receiver, Titus Young, for what was essentially on-the-field insubordination.

Still, a quarter of the season remains. The Lions can’t waste the opportunity to wash away an increasingly sour taste.

“This is a tough league,” Stafford said. “You have to be mentally, physically and emotionally tough. You have to be strong and square and ready to go. The guys who can do that will last. The guys who can’t, won’t.’’

They prey on the weak in all professional sports, but especially the NFL. There is a physicality in football that is unmatched by other sports.

Earlier this season, the Lions were merely getting beaten. This has gotten to the point where they are now getting beaten down.

Not physically, like the days of the winless season and Matt Millen, but rather mentally. The Lions have talent, but it is being wasted on losing games and what will, at best, be a non-winning season.

It’s a different type of losing. It is certainly more difficult to explain.

It doesn’t make it any less haunting or daunting.

Only more so.

Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for The Oakland Press. Contact him at pat.caputo@oakpress.com and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. You can follow him on Twitter @patcaputo98